The comic stars as the Time Lord’s temporary assistant Donna in the one-off episode. But she says she wasn’t considered for the role left vacant by Billie Piper.

‘They didn’t ask me,’ she says. ‘But I tend not to dwell on my failures. It was a fantastic job, one of the best things I’ve done, it was like making an action movie.’

David Tennant, who plays the Doctor, is also sad she won’t be a set fixture. ‘They’d have made a great team, it’s a bit of a shame,’ he said of the characters. ‘They don’t get on very well at first but by the end they’d fallen for each other.’

But writer Russell T Davies says that the main reason Catherine wasn’t asked was because she’s just too busy. ‘She’s got lots of other things going on,’ he explained. ‘We knew she’d never have the time.’

The Runaway Bride episode of Doctor Who will be shown on BBC 1 at 7pm on Christmas Day.